Saigō Takamori

Saigō Takamori
born Dec. 7, 1827, Kagoshima, Kyushu, Japan
died Sept. 24, 1877, Kagoshima

Japanese military and political leader of the late Tokugawa and early Meiji periods.

A samurai from the domain of Satsuma, Saigō joined Ōkubo Toshimichi and Kido Takayoshi in working to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate (military government) and restore rule by the emperor. He commanded the troops that seized control of the imperial palace from the shogunate, and went on to lead a campaign against the shogunate's supporters. After the Meiji Restoration (1868), he was given command of the new Imperial Guard. In 1873 he supported a war with Korea; when this plan was cancelled, he resigned from government. He opened a military school in his native Kagoshima that drew to it disaffected former samurai (class distinctions had been abolished in 1871). In 1877 some of his disciples attacked a government arsenal, and he found himself the unwilling head of a rebellion. It lasted for six months and resulted in some 12,000 dead on both sides, including Saigō himself. He is regarded as a tragic hero by the Japanese.

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▪ Japanese samurai
Introduction
original name  Kichibē , or  Kichinosuke , literary name  Nanshū  
born Jan. 23, 1828, Kagoshima, Kyushu, Japan
died Sept. 24, 1877, Kagoshima

      a leader in the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate who later rebelled against the weaknesses he saw in the Imperial government that he had helped to restore. Although his participation in the restoration made him a legendary hero, it also, to his mortification, relegated his samurai class to impotence.

Early life.
      Saigō was born in 1828 at Kagoshima. His family were samurai of a low but honourable rank whose traditional responsibility was that of serving in the feudal lord's bodyguard.

      From boyhood Saigō was distinguished by his unusual size and physique; as an adult he was almost six feet tall, weighing some 200 pounds. A giant among his contemporaries, he appeared frightening at first glance, with his large, piercing eyes and bushy eyebrows, but he was friendly and unassuming in manner. Possessing all the samurai virtues—bravery, generosity, and excellent swordsmanship—he attracted friends and followers in great numbers. He was impatient with details, making decisions quickly and preferring action over argument; his natural disposition was probably reinforced by his education, which included training in Zen Buddhism and the Neo-Confucianism of the Chinese philosopher Wang Yang-ming, who espoused sincere convictions and forthright action. Saigō's personal motto was Kei-ten; ai-jin (“Revere Heaven; love man”).

Role in the Meiji Restoration.
      Before reaching the age of 40, Saigō had achieved prominence as commander of the forces of Satsuma han (fief) stationed in Kyōto, the Imperial capital. One of the inner group of decision makers in his own han, he also had wide contacts among the Imperial loyalist element throughout the country that was soon to overthrow the shogunate government. He was experienced in the complicated internal diplomacy of the time, having arranged the surrender of the fief of Chōshū to the authority of the shogunate in 1864–65, and was one of the small group who negotiated the secret alliance of Satsuma and Chōshū in 1866. He also worked secretly to force the shogun's resignation, which occurred Nov. 8, 1867.

      But the events that made Saigō a national hero began immediately after this, when the loyalists, dissatisfied with the administrative stalemate resulting from the shogun's resignation, plotted the coup d'état that was to become known as the Meiji Restoration. Before dawn on Jan. 3, 1868, troops under Saigō's command seized control of the palace gates. A council of notables was summoned to which the young emperor read the Imperial rescript that was to inaugurate a new era for Japan.

      A brief war ensued between the shogunate and troops, now called the Imperial army, supplied mainly by the fiefs of Satsuma and Chōshū. Saigō as chief of staff successfully arranged for the surrender of Edo (the shogunal administrative centre; modern Tokyo) in May; he then directed a campaign against supporters of the shogunate in the north that lasted until November 1868.

      Saigō had completed the task as he saw it: that of ensuring the supremacy of the Imperial court over the nation. Then, instead of participating in the difficult problems of organizing a new administration or even merely basking in the adoration of his countrymen, Saigō entered into retirement in Satsuma. In 1869, when the emperor awarded honours to those who had brought about the restoration, Saigō's were the highest granted; but he still refused to take part in the new government.

      In 1871 Saigō was at last persuaded to join the government and was given command of the newly created Imperial Guard, consisting of some 10,000 troops. With a reliable military force under their control for the first time, the leaders of the restoration were able to take a vital step, which they considered the most daring taken so far: the abolition of the han and their replacement by prefectures. To further strengthen the government at this juncture, Saigō was appointed to the Council of State (Dajōkan) and assumed joint responsibility (with Kido Takayoshi) for carrying out the new program. The change went smoothly and was followed by the disbandment of all han troops. Thus, by the end of 1871, the government had eliminated all potential military opposition, and, in the summer of 1872, Saigō was promoted to the new rank of full general.

      During this period, however, serious differences were developing over the question of introducing conscription. Some members of the government, influenced by a study of European army organization, insisted that universal military training was a necessity. Others felt that it was unwise to deprive the samurai class of their ancient monopoly on warfare. While the debate raged, Saigō, the leading military figure in the nation, declined to commit himself publicly. It is known that he privately supported the plan, and there is general agreement that without his encouragement, conscription probably would not have been adopted by the government. The question remains, however, as to why he could not bring himself to support it openly. Saigō's inability to take a stand on conscription was perhaps an indication of a deeper malaise: fearful that Japan was losing the samurai spirit, he was beginning to regret his part in having started an apparently irreversible process. During the summer of 1873, these emotions boiled over in connection with the problem of Korea.

      This “Hermit Kingdom” had refused to recognize the Meiji government, and it rebuffed three successive missions from Japan. Like many others, Saigō felt Korea's attitude was insulting and that Korea deserved chastisement. From his particular viewpoint, a war would also have the advantage of reinvigorating the samurai, many of whom were sulking or rebellious over the trend toward modernization that had set in with the restoration but who felt especially aggrieved by the conscription act.

      In order to realize these objectives, Saigō argued in the Council of State for a unique plan: he would go to Korea as a special envoy, ostensibly to settle outstanding issues. While there he would contrive to behave in such a way as to provoke his own murder, thus affording Japan unquestionable justification for a declaration of war. Saigō replied to all objections that offering up his life for his country was his dearest desire. After continued entreaties, he succeeded in having his proposal approved by the emperor on August 18, shortly before government leaders returned from a lengthy foreign trip. Appalled at the decision, these men argued the priority of internal development over foreign adventure and were eventually able to have the plan canceled.

      Furious at this reversal, Saigō resigned as state councillor and commander of the Imperial Guard and returned once more to his old home; several other high-ranking officials tendered their resignations also, while at a lower level, more than 100 officers of the Imperial Guard shared Saigō's retirement. Thus, his intransigence had irreparably split the leadership of the nation. That Saigō felt impelled to take such a drastic step indicates the depth of his feeling.

      A few months after returning to Kagoshima, Saigō opened his own private school, with emphasis on military science and physical training. Disaffected former samurai from all parts of Japan flocked to study under him. It was estimated that by 1877 the students numbered about 20,000. To Saigō, this was a simple private school that trained young men for public service. To the government in Tokyo, however, it was a cause for concern: the administration of the prefecture from the governor down was in the hands of Saigō's supporters, and graduates of his school were being preferred for new appointments. With samurai rebellions occurring in other parts of the country during 1876, there was real fear that Kagoshima might become the centre of a serious insurrection. In an attempt to assert authority, the government took some ill-advised steps that only inflamed the already tense atmosphere, and on Jan. 29, 1877, a group of Saigō's disciples attacked the Kagoshima arsenal and navy yard.

Rebellion against the imperial government
      Saigō, who was in the mountains on a hunting trip, hastily returned. By the time that he reached Kagoshima, his supporters were operating the arsenal themselves to provide supplies for further military action, and Saigō reluctantly agreed to become the leader of their rebellion.

      Plans were made to march on Tokyo with the vague idea of presenting grievances to the government, and on February 15 Saigō's army started out. Government forces blocked his advance at Kumamoto, and full-scale war ensued for the next six months. Saigō's old friend Yamagata Aritomo (1838–1922), now minister of war, became the field commander against him. By May, Saigō was on the defensive; during the summer he suffered a series of disastrous defeats, and by September the situation was hopeless. With a few hundred men, he returned to Kagoshima to make his last stand on a hill overlooking the city. On Sept. 24, 1877, the government troops launched the final attack; Saigō was critically wounded, and, as had previously been arranged, one of his faithful lieutenants took his life by beheading him. Of the 40,000 troops he had led in February, only some 200 remained to surrender. Losses on both sides were estimated at approximately 12,000 dead and 20,000 wounded.

      In the narrow sense, the failure of Saigō's rebellion meant the end of what he had lived for. The conscript army had defeated the samurai; never again would the government fear local uprisings or samurai threats. If the great Saigō could not win, no one else would be foolhardy enough to try. But in a broader sense, Saigō probably emerged the victor. To the Japanese people, he became the apotheosis of the national character, one more exemplification of the giri-ninjō conflict (“duty” versus “sentiment,” or “compassion”) that is such a well-loved theme of Japanese tale and drama. He became a legend: as late as the 1890s, some still believed that he had not really died but was in retirement waiting to emerge once more at the proper time.

Assessment.
      Such a complex character must necessarily have had detractors as well as admirers. His critics have called him changeable, because he joined a government he did not believe in and then left it; insincere, because he proposed offering negotiation to Korea although he was hoping for war; and undignified, in seriously proposing to have himself murdered by the Koreans. Possibly the most serious criticism is that, if Saigō had truly regarded the rebellion as unwise, he could certainly have prevented it. Yet there are few who would call him a rebel: the government itself gave him a posthumous pardon and raised his son, Toratarō, to the nobility. His contemporary, Fukuzawa Yukichi, Japan's great modernizer and one of its most independent thinkers, in a detailed analysis of the rebellion pointed out that Saigō could not be called a rebel against the emperor, since there was never the slightest doubt of his loyalty, and that the government with its increasing authoritarianism, suppression of criticism, and lack of interest in consulting public opinion, was as much at fault as Saigō.

      In attempting to summarize this argument objectively, it is probably fair to say that Saigō's real weakness lay in his inability to think things through logically to their conclusion; that he was ruled more by intuition than by reason. To say this is to say that he was a tragic figure, possessed of undeniable talent, who, although he had had much to do with bringing a new age to birth, could not make a complete adjustment to it in his own mind, and finally sought escape in the only way that seemed honourable to him: self-destruction.

David Magarey Earl

Additional Reading
Of the many Japanese-language biographies of Saigō, Saneatsu Mushakoji, Great Saigō (1942), is the only one translated and published in English. Also useful is the biographical essay in Ivan Morris, The Nobility of Failure: Tragic Heroes in the History of Japan (1975).

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Universalium. 2010.

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